Medieval Weapons and Men At Arms.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams, Since I know next to nothing about European Armoury I thought to launch this thread and give the key so that members can do their own look up. The coordinates for this exercise are https://www.pinterest.com/pin/176484879125643485/

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Then I thought....
SCENE IV. Another part of the field.

Alarum: excursions. Enter NORFOLK and forces fighting; to him CATESBY
CATESBY
Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!
The king enacts more wonders than a man,
Daring an opposite to every danger:
His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death.
Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!
Alarums. Enter KING RICHARD III

KING RICHARD III
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
CATESBY
Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse.
KING RICHARD III
Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die:
I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

[Philip]

Thank you for sharing these, several of the works display a high level of technical proficiency from an artistic standpoint and of course they all have value as pictorial documentation of the period. I would like to point out that the fourth picture from the very bottom of your latest post is chronologically distinctive in that its portrayals are definitely post-medieval. It's the one showing the two riders in russeted (browned) armor; note that one of them is brandishing a long-barreled pistol. His companion is carrying another such weapon in his right hand, only its barrel being visible. A carbine is suspended barrel-downward in a saddle-boot on this man's left side, along with a sword which appears to be a transitional rapier. The barrel of a musket appears on the left, mid-background. These elements would date the scene to sometime in the 17th cent., making it definitely post-medieval in theme. I will leave it to the costume and armor specialists to pin down a geographic locus for the characters.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Philip

Thank you for sharing these, several of the works display a high level of technical proficiency from an artistic standpoint and of course they all have value as pictorial documentation of the period. I would like to point out that the fourth picture from the very bottom of your latest post is chronologically distinctive in that its portrayals are definitely post-medieval. It's the one showing the two riders in russeted (browned) armor; note that one of them is brandishing a long-barreled pistol. His companion is carrying another such weapon in his right hand, only its barrel being visible. A carbine is suspended barrel-downward in a saddle-boot on this man's left side, along with a sword which appears to be a transitional rapier. The barrel of a musket appears on the left, mid-background. These elements would date the scene to sometime in the 17th cent., making it definitely post-medieval in theme. I will leave it to the costume and armor specialists to pin down a geographic locus for the characters.

Salaams Philip ~I so liked the picture I threw it in anyway although of course you are spot on Philip...Apologies for jumping the gun on that one !

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Staying with horses I note from Wikepedia Quote" The destrier is the best-known war horse of the medieval era. It carried knights in battles, tournaments, and jousts. It was described by contemporary sources as the Great Horse, due to its significance.

The word destrier is derived from the Vulgar Latin dextarius, meaning "right-sided" (the same root as dexterous and dexterity). This may refer to it being led by the squire at the knight's right side (or led by the right hand) or to the horse's gait, (possibly leading with the right).[1]

While highly prized by knights and men-at-arms, the destrier was not very common.[2] Most knights and mounted men-at-arms rode other war horses, such as coursers and rounceys.[3] These three types of horse were often referred to generically as chargers."Unquote.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Here I must do Jousting !!

The key to Jousting Tournament Horses is;

http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/200...ment-book.html

~ and on this site are some excellent pictures!!

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Philip

... I would like to point out that the fourth picture from the very bottom of your latest post is chronologically distinctive in that its portrayals are definitely post-medieval...

Sharp eye ... as usal, Philip.
And yet as you know, (late) middle ages were also the dawn of firearms, with the introduction of "trons", bombards and all jazz.
As in my factional perspective i like to bring to light the battle of Aljubarrota (1385), where it is established by a well recognized period chroniclar that the Spaniards came to the game with over a dozen trons but from which unfortunately there are no graphic evidence, we can depart from an ilumination of this battle contained in Chronique d'Angleterre (1401-1500) by Jean Wavrin, kept at the British Library and also the Siege of Lisbon (1384) by Jean Froissart (1337-1405), followed by a few picturesque illustrations from the said Chronique, as an atempt to stay in line with this thread topic.
I hope to be excused if these images are already known to everyone; intention was good.


,

[fernando]

... a couple more.


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[Philip]

Originally Posted by fernando

Sharp eye ... as usal, Philip.
And yet as you know, middle ages were also the dawn of firearms, with the introduction of "trons", bombards and all jazz.



,

So true, Fernando.
Thanks for posting some images from your files, that show some of these types of very early guns you mention, from an era much preceding the scene I commented on, with the mounted pistoleros whose weapons were very likely wheellocks. Let's see if someone out there would like to comment on the russeted armor with close-helmets these same guys are wearing, that's a field I'd like to learn more about.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams Philip,
In Respect of #2 second picture from top and refered to in the previous post ~To slightly tidy that picture up a little; It was painted in 1618 by Sebastiaen Vrancx who is seen in portrait below and who painted a lot of Eighty Years War battles as well as other non combat works of art... He had been an officer in that war thus he painted with some authority.

From Wikipedia I Quote "Sebastiaen Vrancx, Sebastiaan Vrancx or Sebastian Vranckx[1] (pronounced [ˈvrɑŋs]; 22 January 1573 – 19 May 1647) was a Flemish Baroque painter and draughtsman who is mainly known for his battle scenes, a genre that he pioneered in Netherlandish painting. He also created landscapes with mythological and allegorical scenes, scenes with robbers, village scenes and celebrations in cities.[2] He was a gifted figure painter who was regularly invited to paint the staffage(see below) in compositions of fellow painters.[3]"Unquote.

Staffage ~
In any Old Master landscape, townscape or villagescape, you may find figures embarking on their daily activities. ‘Staffage’, a term more commonly adopted in the late-18th and early-19th centuries — possibly derived from the Old French term estoffe, meaning 'stuff’, or the German staffieren for ‘decorate’ — refers to the human and animal figures that populate pictures, either with subtle anonymity or with historical and biblical significance.

For comparison I place another similar battle by Vrancx showing the shock effect of pistols~ wheel locks at short range by charging cavalry in full armour!

See https://books.google.com.om/books?id...%20war&f=false for techniques to blacken armour which was a regulation..

They used soot and linseed oil then burned it on. Browning and blueing were more expensive...

See also http://jeanmoust.com/categories/batt...n/item-1142207 for some history on the 30 and 80 years wars...and more artist details.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.